What's the Scoop? - Cookies & Cream

You can't go wrong with a classic! There is something about crushed up Oreos in a sweet cream ice cream that makes kids and adults all go crazy. I use Ben & Jerry's sweet cream base and then once it is mostly frozen, I toss in Oreos until I feel it has enough. Some days you may want more cookies, some days you may want less. Just eyeball it until it feels right for you!

Enjoy!

Cookies & Cream Ice Cream

2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream or whipping cream
1 cup milk
Crushed Oreos

Whisk eggs for 1 to 2 minutes, until fluffy and light.

Gradually whisk in sugar, then continue until fully blended, about a minute more.

Mix in cream and milk and whisk to blend.

Freeze according to ice cream maker directions. Mix in Oreos at the end.

TWD: Rum Drenched Vanilla Cakes

Check out those vanilla bean flecks... YUM!

I loved this recipe! I usually omit the alcohol from baked goods since I don't drink, but for whatever reason I decided to go ahead and buy a bottle of rum for this cake. I figured there was only 1/4 cup of rum in the recipe and it makes two loaves so the rum flavor wouldn't really be overwhelming.

To be honest, I didn't really taste the rum in the cake. The cake also had 2 vanilla beans in it, so the vanilla flavor was the most prominent. This pound cake was absolutely delicious!

I glazed one of the cakes with the rum glaze and the other I glazed with a simple syrup flavored with vanilla extract. Nathan said he could taste the rum in the glazed cake but that it didn't overpower the cake. I loved the plain glazed cake and really think it is a perfect pound cake!

Thanks to Wendy of Pink Stripes for hosting this week. The recipe can be found at her blog.

Cooking with Anya: Watermelon Garden

Here is a cute idea for the 4th of July (or any day, really!). Anya had a blast making this and both Eric and Anya loved eating it!


What Anya had to say:

I loved it. The watermelon garden was beautiful. You use white chocolate chips, watermelon, and blueberries. Of course, who could live without blueberries? And you make butterflies and flowers. Use sticks to hold up the flowers and butterflies. Come on... this is the best recipe. Everyone should make it. You can make it any day and everywhere. So go out today and make our treat. Make sure you don't put it in the oven. It's a good thing forever. The end.

Watermelon Garden
Idea adapted from Turtle Magazine

1 round seedless watermelon
Blueberries
White Chocolate Chips
Wooden Skewers
Flower & Butterfly cookie cutters

Cut about 1/4" off the bottom of the watermelon so it will sit flat.

Cut watermelon in half and set aside top part.

Scoop out inside of the bottom with melon baller. Fill bottom with watermelon balls, blueberries, and white chocolate chips.

Slice top half of watermelon in 1/2" slices. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Stick skewers into shapes and then stake into the bottom watermelon.

Enjoy!

Daring Bakers: Chocolate Pavlova with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

Talk about waiting until the last minute to complete a challenge! I didn't start this until 7 pm last night. Oops! I wanted to try it, though, so it was worth staying up and getting it finished. The pictures suffered a bit and considering it is brown on top of brown, the picture really needed all the help it could get. Oh well.....

The base is a chocolate pavlova which is basically a chocolate meringue. It is crunchy on the outside and chewy (almost marshmallowy) on the inside. Incredibly good but also incredibly rich. Small portions are a must with this!

The mousse is made with cream, mascarpone, and chocolate. Very delicious, but also rich. Again.... small portions!

The pavlova is topped off with creme anglaise (I used Dorie Greenspan's recipe for this).

Overall, it wasn't a terribly difficult challenge, but it was a little time consuming considering the pavlova had to bake for 2 hours. I'm not sure I'll be making this regularly but I am glad I tried it!

Cookie Carnival: Raspberry Jam Thumbprints

Part two of the carnival is here! I am starting to realize that I am not a huge jelly/jam person. I love it on toast or on a PB&J, but just a pile of jam on a cookie.... Eh... not for me. The cookie itself was incredible (you'd be hard pressed to offer me something made with almond paste that I didn't like!) and was good plain. But, I had a great solution for the not liking jam cookies dilemma...

Add melted bittersweet chocolate! DELICIOUS!

Raspberry Jam Thumbprints
Cooking Light

3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated almond paste
2/3 cup sugar
5 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg white
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons Raspberry Refrigerator Jam
Preparation
Preheat oven to 325°.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper; secure to baking sheet with masking tape.

Place first 3 ingredients in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed for 4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg white; beat well.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add flour and salt to almond paste mixture; beat at low speed until well blended. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and shape dough into 36 (1-inch) balls. Place balls 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets, and press thumb into center of each cookie, leaving an indentation. Bake at 325° for 10 minutes or until golden.

Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon Raspberry Refrigerator Jam into center of each cookie.